To pass on, to be pushing up the daisies, to kick the bucket. Literally meaning “to throw back one’s hooves”. In Russian everyday slang, street culture, and dark humour, it serves as a blunt, irreverent, and heavily informal euphemism for dying. The imagery comes from livestock (like horses or cows) falling over and stiffening their legs or hooves upon death.
Человек может копыта откинуть, если 3 дня ничего не ел и не спал..?
Does one go to meet one’s maker if one does not eat or sleep for 3 days..?
(NeSsUn_AnGelO (21) @ irc.lv, 09/2009)
